The fact that Obama appeared before a large, enthusiastic crowd after the first debate was no accident.

“That’s how you would want to look,” said Joe Heim, a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse political scientist. “You would want to look like you are real popular.”

Students packed the university’s iconic Bascom Hill to see the president, some waiting in line before sunrise to get a good spot. UW Police Chief Susan Riseling estimated more than 30,000 were on hand.

The crowd booed when Obama said Romney “thinks we didn’t need any more teachers in the classroom.”

People laughed when Obama mocked Romney’s proposed cuts to public broadcasting.

“He’ll get rid of regulations on Wall Street, but he’ll crack down on Sesame Street,” Obama said.

Students said they were excited to see the sitting president, but they gave him mixed marks on his debate.

Rebecca Ortega, a fifth-year senior from Manitowoc said she thought Wednesday’s debate was “a little lackluster.” She said the performance might have hurt Obama slightly, but not to the point where it will cost him the election, or the student vote.

“Look at all the people who are here,” she said. “I think it shows how much people really, really care about him.”

She said Obama performed well at the debate and demonstrated support for students.

“He was relaxed and confident,” she said. “Romney seemed uptight.”

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Obama has work to energize the student vote, observers say.

“He very much needs to generate enthusiasm in that youngest voter bracket,” said Arnold Shober, an assistant professor of government at Lawrence University. “We know from polls throughout this year, the enthusiasm and excitement in that bracket is much lower than it was in 2008.

“They are not as excited about him. It’s not like you are asking to vote for the first African-American president ever this time.”

Shober said Obama’s message is different than it was in 2008.

“Obama is not taking about hope and change,” he said. “It’s like, ‘Give me four more years to fix the economy,’ which isn’t quite as inspirational as the message was the first time around.”

Obama said Thursday the country’s economic success depends on a strong middle class.

“Our economy does not grow from the top down, it grows from the middle class,” he said.

Obama said he wants to cut the deficit “the smart way” with spending cuts and higher taxes on the wealthy. He said he wants to reform the tax code so it’s simple and fair.

Obama blasted Romney for promising $5 trillion in tax cuts, saying Romney’s math doesn’t add up. He said Romney could not pay for the plan without “either blowing up the deficit or asking you to pay more.”

“I refuse to do that,” Obama said.

Obama said his opponents maintain that because government can’t do everything, it should do almost nothing and if students have no money for school, they should borrow it from their parents. If there’s no money to regulate companies that pollute, “that’s the price of progress.”

“That’s not what Wisconsin is about, that’s not how our greatness was built,” Obama said.

At least until recently, presidential visits have been rare on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Obama is the only sitting president to visit the campus since President Harry Truman. And Obama has now been on campus three times, once as a candidate and now twice as a sitting president.

Shober said that while Obama won’t lose the younger vote, he needs them to turn out in big numbers and cast ballots.

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“If they don’t turn out in large numbers especially in Wisconsin, it’s possible for Mitt Romney to carry states like Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, the Big Ten states that are somewhat close this time around,” he said.

Ursula Hymes-Fecht, a doctoral dairy sciences student, wasn’t worried about turnout Thursday. Hymes-Fecht started waiting in line at 6:30 a.m. to hear Obama’s remarks, which began after 3 p.m.

Over the day, Hymes-Fecht said she was approached by numerous volunteers who were working to get out the campus student vote.

“They are really on the job,” she said. “At least 20 volunteers have asked me if I’ve registered to vote.”

Wisconsin may be Obama’s to lose. Recent polling shows the president has an edge in the Dairy State. On Wednesday, a Marquette Law School Poll showed Obama with a 53-42 edge over Romney. In mid-September, the school’s poll showed a 14-point gap between the candidates.

“Right now, it’s close here,” said Dennis Riley, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. “(Obama) really wants these 10 electoral votes.

“It certainly makes his map just a whole lot easier and Romney’s a whole lot harder. He’s here to get that vote, because he thinks that might be the key.”

Riley said that Madison and Dane county, like Milwaukee, are places where “Democrats troll for votes.”

“They want Wisconsin,” he said. “If they win Wisconsin and they win Iowa, then some of what happens in the West is less important.”

Republicans are not about to concede Wisconsin.

Before the visit, Gov. Scott Walker said voters will move toward Romney as he explains his plans to the public during the three debates.

“I think people are hungry for reform,” Walker said. “He won’t win just because the ‘R’ next to his name stands for Republican. To win he’s got to show that the ‘R’ next to his name stands for reform.”